The Long and Winding Road
by Lilako
Summary: A series of two hundred drabbles detailing the journey from friendship to something much more. In progress.
1. 1 through 5

Complicated

...

Nothing was easier than being her enemy. Then, he'd known what to expect. He'd known where he'd stood. Now that they were friends, all Zuko knew was that he didn't know anything – but her friendship was worth it, he mused, as she left him staring after her on the dock.

* * *

Making History

...

As far as he knew, they were the first ones to ever have broken in to a raiders' facility. That's what he'd told her, anyway. Such a thing had never been attempted before and somehow, Katara felt it was appropriate that their first day as friends had been spent doing the impossible together.

* * *

Rivalry

...

Blue and tangerine flames curled against each other as they escaped into the sky, and Katara lost herself in their fervor. This went way beyond sibling rivalry. This was madness.

Light and heat met in the most deadly kind of embrace, and when it seemed that Zuko's heart had stopped, Katara felt hers stop, too.

* * *

Unbreakable

...

When it was clear that no matter how much lightning Azula shot at him, she could not break his spirit, Katara smiled her biggest smile at him. It was the first time she'd ever looked at Zuko like that, and he sincerely hoped it would not be the last.

Zuko smiled back as she did her best to mend his shattered chest.

* * *

Obsession

...

The days leading up to Zuko's coronation passed slowly, lengthened in part by the Fire Lord-to-be's antics.

"For the last time," he growled in frustration, "I'm _fine,_ Katara." He struggled to sit up in his bed, his teeth clenching against the pain.

Katara pushed him gently back down for the umpteenth time. If there was anything keeping Zuko down, it was his obsession to get back up.

* * *

I really hate the way FFN won't allow for double spacing. =/

Anyway with that said, so begins my drabble series. I saw a poetry challenge with 200 prompts, so I used them for these drabbles instead of for poetic inspiration. I hope to show the ups and downs (for there are many) along the road to Zuko and Katara's relationship.

I'm doing this mostly because I want more practice before posting the fic I've been working on - practice in writing in both of their voices, as well as further exploring the dynamic between them before I jump into it. (By the way, I'm looking for a beta for that fic, so if you're interested, good with story flow and plot consistency, and have free time on your hands, please note me.)

Enough of my babble - please review!


	2. 6 through 10

Death

...

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?"

"I – I just meant, you were in prison-"

"Yes, Zuko, I was in prison. By the way, thanks _so much_ for getting me out."

Mai twirled her sai around and around in her fingers as the seconds dragged by, waiting for Zuko to say something – anything – to assuage his guilt. But he said nothing and Mai let out the tiniest, imperceptible sigh as she slipped her knife away into her sleeve.

Zuko seemed to take this as the sign that it was. "Mai – I'm sorry-"

"No Zuko, _I'm_ sorry. I'm sorry I didn't see this coming. The truth is, Zuko, I love you."

"Mai… I-"

"But I don't need you."

Later, Mai's goodbye reverberated inside Zuko's head and he wondered how he should feel.

* * *

Gateway

...

The Avatar and the (soon-to-be) Fire Lord stood, a crimson silk curtain the only thing separating them from their destinies. It hung between them and the future they'd both been fighting for, and Zuko didn't know what might lie on the other side.

Because if there was one thing that he'd learned in the past year, it was that destiny was truly a funny thing.

"I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down, and now…"

"And now, we're friends." Aang smiled and Zuko felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards, too.

"Yeah. We are friends."

When Zuko parted the curtains and the (boys) leaders of the world stepped out onto the dais, he addressed the crowd at large. But his eyes settled on one person and one person only, and as she stared back up at him with pride shining in her blue eyes, he felt at peace.

The war was finally over.

* * *

Eternity

...

The ceremony was taking _forever._

Now, contrary to popular belief, Sokka was _not_ an oaf. Rather, he prided himself on being a warrior, an intellectual, a member of the Southern Water Tribe. He liked to let people _believe_ he was an oaf, though, because…well, it was just plain funny, sometimes.

After all, if he wasn't the sarcasm and meat guy, who would be?

"I'm _starving_," he complained, throwing his arms into the air with all the melodrama of an Ember Island Player's production.

Katara raised a brow. "We saved the whole world and all you can think about is your stomach?"

"Can you blame me? We've been listening to that old stuffy guy for _hours!_ There's only so much a guy can hear about 'Fire Nation history this, the Fire Nation is so great that' without wanting to bend his brains out.

"Besides. There's no better way of celebrating cultural unity or whatever than sampling all of their cultural food."

"'Bend his brains out?' It's too bad you're not a bender, Snoozles," Toph taunted, swiping a foot across the ground. Sokka faceplanted into the dirt at his feet, earning him odd looks from all directions. "And that you've got no brains.

"So Sugar Queen," Toph began as Sokka got up and brushed himself off, "what version of the speech did he end up going with?"

"Peace and love."

"Well I would _love_ a piece of seal blubber jerky right now," Sokka griped, but was ignored.

Toph wore the wicked grin that meant she was all business. "Love, huh? That's got 'Sugar Queen' written all over it."

Sokka spluttered and spun to face her. "What? Zuko – and my baby sister?"

Katara huffed, her gaze connecting with the cobblestones beneath her boots. "She _means_ that I helped write it."

"Oh. Okay then." (Not that Zuko wasn't a great guy or anything. But as Katara's older brother, he would be obligated to kill him.)

But when Zuko ended his speech some time later on the note of beginning an 'era of love and peace,' Sokka noted the person the older boy's gaze was aimed at.

He gauged the look on his sister's face and wondered.

* * *

Opportunities

...

There comes a time in one's life when one is meant to let go of the past.

Sometimes this is easy; after all, a part of growing up is learning to accept that some things must come to an end to allow room for new experiences in one's life.

And sometimes, it's really, really hard.

"I'm sorry, dad," Katara said through the tears threatening to constrict her throat, sincerity bleeding into her voice as she hugged him.

"I understand," he replied, and she knew that he did, even if he was blinking his own tears away.

"It's just that I've seen so much of the world. And as much as I miss the way things used to be, I can't imagine going back now. It…it just wouldn't be the same."

"You want more for your life," Hakoda said gently, smoothing his daughter's hair down like he used to when she was young and nightmares disturbed her sleep.

Katara cried harder and that was all the affirmation he needed. "Good luck with the apprenticeship, Katara," he said, when the ship had been loaded with cargo and the blue sails reached for the bluer sky. "Visit us sometime, okay? And write. Those dragon hawks are very convenient."

Hakoda watched his daughter nod and wipe away the tears streaking down her face. While the Fire Nation might be an odd place to study healing, he knew that he was leaving her in the very capable hands of Dr. Yang, and that this would be a good experience for her. That this was what she wanted.

Katara, Hakoda noted as the currents carried him away from his daughter for the second time in his life, was not a child any longer.

* * *

Possession

...

"You can't make me!"

The shrill words reverberated, amplified by the marble room to a volume that could not otherwise be achieved by such a small girl.

"Toph," the woman began through a distraught frown, "we are your parents, and we want only that which is best for you-"

"I don't care who you are, I said I'm not going!"

Toph had never been so free.

She'd never been so loved, or cared for, or wanted. She'd never had any real friends, or anyone that even knew she'd existed besides her wetnurse. She'd never been so accomplished; not in Mother's idea of what accomplishment meant – laces crafted by hand that served no purpose other than to make her itch, or the ability to recite the words of old poets that ought to have died with them – but things that made Toph feel truly worthwhile. Traveling the world. Teaching the Avatar. Seeing with her bending despite her blindness. Learning to bend metal. To Toph, those were true accomplishments.

To her mother, they were merely signs that she had been given too much freedom.

But Toph was not an object. She was not the beautiful, useless porcelain doll her parents had always wanted her to be.

She was Toph, earthbending master.

She was Toph, Earth Rumble champion.

She was Toph, and she was free.

The next day, when her parents left for the Earth Kingdom, Toph stayed behind.

They did not see her cry, because they didn't look back.


End file.
